Mumbai: Film and television actor Rakesh Bedi (69) was duped of Rs 85,000 by a scamster who posed as an army personnel. The accused showed interest in buying Bedi's Pune flat, which he had advertised was on sale for Rs 87 lakh.

Bedi realized that he had been duped after the accused stopped responding to his calls. The accused won his trust by sharing an identity card and other documents claiming that he was in the Indian Army. Oshiwara police registered a case on December 30.

The accused identified himself as Aditya Kumar and claimed that he had come across Bedi's contact details through a housing sale portal “I believed the person because I had sold one of my properties to defense personnel and it was genuine. This made me believe the caller,” Bedi told TOI.

The next day the accused called Bedi saying that his senior liked the flat and was going to buy it. He told him that his senior had an army account and would carry out transactions through it.

“The actor was provided with an account number and was asked to transfer Rs1 through G Pay. After the successful transaction, Bedi was asked to transfer Rs 50,000 which he did. Later he told the actor that he had transferred the Rs 50,000 back. When Bedi informed that he had not received it, the scamster claimed that as it is an Indian army account there should be a similar account balance in both parties' accounts,” said a police officer.

Bedi was then asked to transfer Rs 50,000 which he did through his wife's account. “The actor made two more transactions, Rs 25,000 and Rs 10,000. After the transactions, the accused stopped responding to the actor's calls, which is when he realized that he had been cheated, said police.”